BOBCATS 125 - TOP 50: Paul Dennehy
8/1/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
A scrapper from Butte, Paul Dennehy led MSU to the 1976 national title and more wins than any Bobcat quarterback before him
We look at the 25 players that Bobcat fans and a blue ribbon panel of long-time MSU football observers ranked between 26th and 50th in the quest to determine the program's all-time players. In this segment of the countdown, players are listed alphabetically. You can find details here and a directory here.
Paul Dennehy, QB
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1976, 2nd Team All-Big Sky in 1978
A CLOSER LOOK: The roots of a championship season aren't generally easy to trace, but Montana State's 1976 national title certainly began to take shape during the team's annual scrimmage vs. Bobcat alumni in the spring of that year. According to the team's football media guide, that's when Paul Dennehy took a "slight edge" in the competition to replace Mike Holder as the Bobcats' starting quarterback.
Once Dennehy grabbed the job, he never let go. The sophomore from Butte Central began his brilliant Bobcat career by rushing for 488 yards and 11 touchdowns and throwing for 885 yards and 10 scores. He took the first snap of the season (throwing an incomplete pass) and almost every snap for the next three years. He led the Cats from a 14-3 third quarter deficit to an 18-14 win at North Dakota in his first game then threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in an easy win against North Dakota State.
Then things got bumpy. The Bobcats went to Fresno State on September 25 and lost to former MSU head coach Jim Sweeney 24-10. Montana State led 10-7 deep into the third quarter, but the Bulldogs scored 17 points in the games final 19 minutes to grab their first win under Sweeney. After the game Bobcat coach Sonny Holland said, "I don't think it was their offense that beat us, it was our offense that beat us."
Message delivered. Message received.
In what was already one of the most intense rivalries in the Big Sky, the Bobcats gained 460 yards - 296 on the ground - in a 24-20 win over Boise State one week later. Dennehy ran for 111 yards and threw for 88, and just like that the Blue and Gold was rolling. MSU pounded Weber State 44-0 in Ogden the next week, stopped Idaho State 28-7, and then stopped Idaho 29-14. And then the Bobcats boarded the bus for Missoula.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and it could have been worse. UM missed two first half field goals. But in the third quarter, the Cats rolled. Dennehy threw a touchdown pass to Missoula's Bryan Flaig to take the lead, then scored on a 12-yard run, then punched it in from one yard out. 21-6 Cats, game over. UM scored an insignificant late touchdown but managed only 107 yards in the second half. MSU gained at least one first down in every offensive possession after the intermission, while UM gained only six.
After beating NAU 33-0, the Bobcats headed for paradise and a season-changing 28-7 win over Hawaii. That win sealed MSU's first NCAA playoff bid, with Dennehy completing four passes but gaining 113 yards. That included a 52-yard touchdown pass to Don Ueland that got the scoring started.
After a week off, the Bobcats earned a narrow home win against New Hampshire to open the playoffs. A week later the team earned a 10-3 win over NDSU in frigid Fargo, with a five-yard pass from Dennehy to Damberger accounting for the winning score and a trip to the national title game in Wichita Falls, Texas.
That game also proved to be a showcase for Dennehy's arm. He completed five passes (in eight attempts), one for a touchdown, and triggered a game-clinching 35-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard pass to Ron McCullough that set up a seven-yard Tom Kostrba score. The Bobcats had ended a 20-year wait for a national championship.
Unknowingly, Dennehy and the Bobcats played out the string for legendary coach Sonny Holland. Like Dennehy a Butte native, Holland retired at the end of MSU's 6-4 season. Under another proud son of Butte, Sonny Lubick, Dennehy's senior season resulted in an 8-2 record but disappointing late-season losses to NAU and UM ended the team's title hopes.
In context of the times, Dennehy's stats are impressive but not eye-popping. He rushed for 1,158 yards in his three seasons, with 18 career touchdowns. His 11 rushing touchdowns in 1976 was second-most in school history at the time of his graduation. Dennehy threw for 2,778 and 28 touchdowns, just shy of Dennis Erickson's career records at the time.
But Dennehy's value is best measured in another way. He rolled up 26 wins and a national championship as Montana State's starting quarterback, MSU's gold standard for another 34 years. And the reverence his teammates and fans of that era hold for him remain very real.
FROM TEAMMATE RICK VANCLEEVE: "He was one of he true Butte guys, a different breed for sure. He never had amazing stats but he was a flat winnter. You wouldn't bet against him, that's for sure. I tell him that in the (NCAA Division II) championship game he threw two passes to the good guys and two to the bad guys and that was about it.
"When we had two-a-days and played poker you never took your eyes off your money when you played with (Dennehy) because it would be gone. (laughs) And I played with him not too long ago and I think that's still true."
FROM TEAMMATE DAN DAVIES: "Paul earned the trust of the coaches and teammates early during the 1976 championship season. He was a 'game-day guy' and found a way to get the job done in 'Butte Tough fashion, even though it wasn't always pretty. Paul was a leader and a winner!"
Paul Dennehy, QB
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1976, 2nd Team All-Big Sky in 1978
A CLOSER LOOK: The roots of a championship season aren't generally easy to trace, but Montana State's 1976 national title certainly began to take shape during the team's annual scrimmage vs. Bobcat alumni in the spring of that year. According to the team's football media guide, that's when Paul Dennehy took a "slight edge" in the competition to replace Mike Holder as the Bobcats' starting quarterback.
Once Dennehy grabbed the job, he never let go. The sophomore from Butte Central began his brilliant Bobcat career by rushing for 488 yards and 11 touchdowns and throwing for 885 yards and 10 scores. He took the first snap of the season (throwing an incomplete pass) and almost every snap for the next three years. He led the Cats from a 14-3 third quarter deficit to an 18-14 win at North Dakota in his first game then threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in an easy win against North Dakota State.
Then things got bumpy. The Bobcats went to Fresno State on September 25 and lost to former MSU head coach Jim Sweeney 24-10. Montana State led 10-7 deep into the third quarter, but the Bulldogs scored 17 points in the games final 19 minutes to grab their first win under Sweeney. After the game Bobcat coach Sonny Holland said, "I don't think it was their offense that beat us, it was our offense that beat us."
Message delivered. Message received.
In what was already one of the most intense rivalries in the Big Sky, the Bobcats gained 460 yards - 296 on the ground - in a 24-20 win over Boise State one week later. Dennehy ran for 111 yards and threw for 88, and just like that the Blue and Gold was rolling. MSU pounded Weber State 44-0 in Ogden the next week, stopped Idaho State 28-7, and then stopped Idaho 29-14. And then the Bobcats boarded the bus for Missoula.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and it could have been worse. UM missed two first half field goals. But in the third quarter, the Cats rolled. Dennehy threw a touchdown pass to Missoula's Bryan Flaig to take the lead, then scored on a 12-yard run, then punched it in from one yard out. 21-6 Cats, game over. UM scored an insignificant late touchdown but managed only 107 yards in the second half. MSU gained at least one first down in every offensive possession after the intermission, while UM gained only six.
After beating NAU 33-0, the Bobcats headed for paradise and a season-changing 28-7 win over Hawaii. That win sealed MSU's first NCAA playoff bid, with Dennehy completing four passes but gaining 113 yards. That included a 52-yard touchdown pass to Don Ueland that got the scoring started.
After a week off, the Bobcats earned a narrow home win against New Hampshire to open the playoffs. A week later the team earned a 10-3 win over NDSU in frigid Fargo, with a five-yard pass from Dennehy to Damberger accounting for the winning score and a trip to the national title game in Wichita Falls, Texas.
That game also proved to be a showcase for Dennehy's arm. He completed five passes (in eight attempts), one for a touchdown, and triggered a game-clinching 35-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard pass to Ron McCullough that set up a seven-yard Tom Kostrba score. The Bobcats had ended a 20-year wait for a national championship.
Unknowingly, Dennehy and the Bobcats played out the string for legendary coach Sonny Holland. Like Dennehy a Butte native, Holland retired at the end of MSU's 6-4 season. Under another proud son of Butte, Sonny Lubick, Dennehy's senior season resulted in an 8-2 record but disappointing late-season losses to NAU and UM ended the team's title hopes.
In context of the times, Dennehy's stats are impressive but not eye-popping. He rushed for 1,158 yards in his three seasons, with 18 career touchdowns. His 11 rushing touchdowns in 1976 was second-most in school history at the time of his graduation. Dennehy threw for 2,778 and 28 touchdowns, just shy of Dennis Erickson's career records at the time.
But Dennehy's value is best measured in another way. He rolled up 26 wins and a national championship as Montana State's starting quarterback, MSU's gold standard for another 34 years. And the reverence his teammates and fans of that era hold for him remain very real.
FROM TEAMMATE RICK VANCLEEVE: "He was one of he true Butte guys, a different breed for sure. He never had amazing stats but he was a flat winnter. You wouldn't bet against him, that's for sure. I tell him that in the (NCAA Division II) championship game he threw two passes to the good guys and two to the bad guys and that was about it.
"When we had two-a-days and played poker you never took your eyes off your money when you played with (Dennehy) because it would be gone. (laughs) And I played with him not too long ago and I think that's still true."
FROM TEAMMATE DAN DAVIES: "Paul earned the trust of the coaches and teammates early during the 1976 championship season. He was a 'game-day guy' and found a way to get the job done in 'Butte Tough fashion, even though it wasn't always pretty. Paul was a leader and a winner!"
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